10,000 STEPS A DAY? MYTH OR REALITY

In the 1960s, the theory that at least 10,000 steps a day had to be taken to be considered active and, therefore, to obtain important benefits at the cardiovascular level, began to spread from Japan to the rest of the world. It was Dr. Yoshiro Hatano who, faced with the growing problems of obesity and inactivity (at that time the Japanese made an average of 5,000 steps a day) that hit the Japanese country, established the figure of 10,000 steps as a measure of health.

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This idea has penetrated so deep in society that different apps and mobile devices used to measure the level of physical activity throw a warning to the user when that day has reached 10,000 steps. However, this figure has more marketing, since it arose as a result of the commercialization of a pedometer called manpo-kei, which precisely means "10,000 steps", that of scientific basis.


In this sense, one study evaluated the cardiovascular risk in 111 healthy adults according to their level of activity evaluated with an accelerometer taken for 7 days. The analysis of the results determined that a longer sedentary time was associated with a greater waist circumference, higher triglyceride level and lower HDL-cholesterol in the blood, all of them cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, those who met the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome were less active, recorded a lower number of daily steps (an average of 11,000), the speed of their steps was slower and they stayed more time in sedentary attitudes compared to those who did not. they did not have metabolic syndrome. The latter walked an average of ≥ 3.5 h / day, gave more than 15,000 steps a day and stood more than 7 h / day.

Therefore, it seems to be clear that the establishment of the magical figure of 10,000 steps a day as a measure for health control is not correct, but that figure seems to be above 15,000 steps. However, other recent studies prioritize the intensity at which one walks ahead of the volume or number of 
steps taken.

REFERENCES

1. Tigbe, W. W., Granat, M. H., Sattar, N., & Lean, M. E. (2017). Time spent in sedentary posture is associated with waist circumference and cardiovascular risk. International Journal of Obesity, 41(5), 689